a birthday, a cold, a recovery
by czqy
Summary: "If you don't stop, I'm going to haul you over my shoulder and carry you home." It's Todoroki's birthday. He just wants to walk around outside with Midoriya, but when it starts to look like he's caught a cold, Midoriya drags him back to their dorms so he can rest.


**A/N:** i was stuck on what to write but then i remembered todo sneezing and how cute he looked and thus... this was born

(happy bday to todoroki shouto the love of my life ilysm)

* * *

After the fourth sneeze, Midoriya starts to get a little wary.

"Are you _sure_ you're okay?" He leans forwards and peers at his boyfriend, who's rubbing his nose, sniffling.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Todoroki replies, sounding not very fine at all. "Besides, I want to stay out here. It's nice."

Midoriya hums, and pulls back. "Alright, then."

It was Todoroki's idea, to come out and walk aimlessly around the park. Midoriya had shown up at his door early in the morning, to wish him a happy birthday and give him his present. When Todoroki held the plushie, which looked like a bowl of his favourite zaru soba, he showed no reaction. Midoriya panicked, thinking Todoroki didn't appreciate the gift, and was just about to apologise when he was pulled in by the collar. Todoroki swiftly shut the door behind him, threw the toy behind him (which Midoriya helplessly reached out for), and kissed him square on the lips.

The sudden sensation shocked Midoriya, but he quickly melted into the kiss, swinging his arms around Todoroki's neck. Kissing his boyfriend is something Midoriya will never get tired of. The feeling resembles the one he gets when he activates One For All. A large amount of energy surges through him, from his core all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes. In the beginning he had to try very hard to stay in control, so he wouldn't accidentally blast Todoroki across the room if he nudged him. Knowing that it was a mutual thing was nice, though. Even Todoroki, who'd had his Quirk trained for ages, would sometimes have difficulty keeping his abilities in check. There were a few times where he accidentally singed Midoriya's hair or clothes, and on rarer occasions, left them covered in frost.

When they pulled apart, Midoriya looked up into Todoroki's eyes, and found that they seemed to sparkle and shine.

"Thank you," he said a moment later, "for the gift."

"You're welcome!" Midoriya was intent on showering Todoroki with affection whenever he had the chance, because the boy didn't receive nearly enough of it. Plus, it never fails to make Todoroki blush, which Midoriya revels in.

Midoriya was bundled up, wearing a yellow scarf, and a beanie with All Might's costume design on it, as he wasn't sure what they'd be doing and didn't want to have to go back to his room if they were heading out. Just as he started to feel hot and reached out to take the accessories off, Todoroki grabbed his hand and told him not to—he wants to head outside anyways. He donned his own scarf and beanie (half-red and half-white, a sort of joke present he'd been given a while ago from his classmates collectively; no one expected he would actually wear them that much), and they made their way to the nearby park. It _was_ nice, walking around with his arm looped around Todoroki's, feeling the chilly air on his skin, but that changes when Todoroki starts presenting symptoms of a cold.

First, it's the sneezing. It's cute, the way Todoroki sneezes. It's a small noise, unlike the loudness of Midoriya's ones. He always tilts his heads forwards, hair following suit, falling gracefully. He still hasn't dropped the habit of sneezing without covering his nose and mouth, but he's working on it. It becomes less endearing when it results in small icicles forming, coming from his mouth and falling like snowflakes, and dangling from his nose. Actually, that's kind of a lie. It's cute in a different way, as if it's a scene from a manga, although Midoriya will acknowledge the fact it's probably quite unhygienic.

Then comes the change in speech. Slowly, as they continue their conversation, Todoroki's voice gets more nasally, and his words start to slur a bit. It seems to take him longer to process everything too, he closes his eyes quite often and would squint up at the sky. When he looks at Midoriya after being asked a question, the tip of his nose is red, and he doesn't look great (that's somewhat of a lie, also. Todoroki seems to look good whenever, and it causes Midoriya a great deal of stress; he just doesn't get how).

The final straw is when Todoroki staggers, almost slipping and dragging Midoriya down with him. Todoroki sniffles again after regaining his balance, and Midoriya decides he's had enough. Todoroki will probably only get worse if they stay out here, and Midoriya has absolutely no objections to spending the day inside—where it's warm, with his boyfriend who will be tucked in bed, resting.

He starts to lead them back towards their dorms, but as soon as Todoroki registers what's happening, he starts to resist, and Midoriya has to put in some effort to make him move. Todoroki protests against Midoriya, whining (whining!) that he's fine, that this is nothing. He drags his feet along the ground, and even tries to pull Midoriya back, but Midoriya didn't do all that training for nothing, so he overpowers him without much difficulty. He stops in his tracks, confusing Todoroki, who stares at him wide-eyed (this throws Midoriya off for a moment; it's just too adorable, his heart feels full), and threatens him.

"If you don't stop, I'm going to haul you over my shoulder and carry you home."

Todoroki complies immediately. Midoriya's somewhat disappointed, to be honest. The last time he did something like that was when they went to the beach during summer. Some of the guys had the idea to have chicken fights, and Midoriya managed to convince Todoroki to get on his shoulders, arguing that he'd make a sturdier base (they won, and Todoroki wiped the smirk of his face by tackling him into the water after). Since then, Midoriya has tried to pick Todoroki up, because he enjoys the feeling, he likes the weight of carrying something, but Todoroki never lets him. Even when he got injured during training, he was adamant about walking back, even though he hobbled the whole way. Midoriya thought he'd have better luck with a sick Todoroki, but apparently not. He huffs. One day, he'll get him.

They walk back briskly, Midoriya leading Todoroki by the hand. When they're halfway there, he turns back to check on him, and sees that Todoroki has snuggled into his scarf, leaving only his eyes visible. Midoriya faces forwards again and shakes his head; _oh, this boy_.

* * *

As soon as they enter Todoroki's room, Midoriya goes to set up his futon, while Todoroki stands by the door, slowly falling asleep while standing up. Once everything is laid out, Midoriya all but shoves Todoroki under his covers, before taking off his jacket, beanie, and scarf. The moment that's done, Todoroki turns onto his side, pulls his doona towards himself, bundles it under his chin, and brings his knees up. He seems to have suddenly taken a turn for the worst, and Midoriya is glad they got back when they did.

He takes off his own outerwear, then goes to sit on the bed, close to where Todoroki's head lays. He reaches out a hand and brushes Todoroki's bangs aside, smiling softly when Todoroki leans into the touch after he lets it linger against his cheek.

"I can't believe you got sick, and on your birthday too."

Todoroki sneezes in response, and then his left side flares up a bit. It makes Midoriya chuckle. He remembers a time when that would've set his bed on fire, but following an… incident, all of his sheets and covers were made fireproof.

"It's okay," Todoroki mumbles, "I'll get better in no time. This never lasts long."

"If you say so." Midoriya presses a gentle kiss against his boyfriend's forehead, who promptly falls asleep, then stands up. He goes to retrieve the present he got Todoroki, which is still in the corner of the room, after Todoroki blindly threw it, and places it on his table. He then goes to fetch Todoroki a glass of water.

On the way back, Midoriya makes a detour to his room in order to grab his latest Hero Analysis for the Future notebook. He may as well do something while Todoroki's out. When he gets back, he sits at Todoroki's desk and reads over his notes, making some alterations where he sees fit. He gets closer to his goal of becoming a Pro Hero as each day goes by, and he's not the only one. Midoriya glances at Todoroki, who's sleeping soundly, and his entire being softens. He still remembers the way he felt during his match against Todoroki at the Sports Festival in their first year. He had been frustrated, that Todoroki wasn't putting in his all like everyone else, that he had his sights set elsewhere. And when he finally drew out his flames, when Midoriya felt the sudden heat, he couldn't have been more pleased. It was worth every broken bone. Midoriya smiles tenderly when recalling the memory. They've come far since then.

* * *

When the sun starts to set, Todoroki rouses from his slumber. Midoriya turns around, drawn to the sound of movement, and finds his boyfriend sitting up, rubbing his eyes.

"What time is it?" His voice is raspy, and Midoriya hopes it doesn't go back to normal any time soon. It's not that he doesn't like Todoroki's normal voice (trust him, he does), but his voice gets even deeper like this, and for someone with a high voice like him, it's almost fascinating to hear.

Aside from the voice, which is actually due to sleep, Todoroki doesn't appear sick at all. He looks completely refreshed—his words are clear, his nose seems unblocked and isn't running, and Midoriya is kind of shocked. It must show on his face, he's very expressive after all, and Todoroki makes a sound resembling a scoff.

"Yeah, I told you it'd go away quickly. It would've been fine if we stayed outside too, I would've recovered then as well."

Midoriya refuses to believe his last statement. He crosses his arms and tilts his head the other way, pouting. He hears Todoroki chuckle, and then a hand reaches out and wraps around his wrist. He turns his head then, and Todoroki starts to drag him towards him. Midoriya tries to resist (a futile attempt), and ends up plopping down on top of Todoroki's covers, on top of Todoroki. He adjusts himself so he's more comfortable, straddling him instead of just sitting awkwardly in his lap. Todoroki takes his hands in his own, holds them delicately. It makes Midoriya's heart clench, like it always does. He has this… thing about Midoriya's hands, always treating them as if they're something precious. Midoriya knows he had his whole 'Hand Crusher' thing, but he wishes he wasn't so hard on himself about it.

"Thanks for caring about me though," Todoroki says, after he looks up from their hands, and into Midoriya's eyes.

"Yeah, of course!" Midoriya grins. This is nothing.

"It's been a nice birthday."

"Really?" Midoriya can't hide the surprise in his voice. "We didn't get to do much."

"That's okay," Todoroki shrugs, and then his voice becomes unbelievably soft, "I was with you."

Midoriya short circuits. As soon as the words register, he starts to splutter, and wave his hands in front of his face. There's no doubt he's blushing, he felt himself heat up, and he doesn't know if he can face Todoroki right now. He doesn't think he can form words either (aside from a stuttered "Todoroki-kun!"), and even if he did, he wouldn't know what to say. The thing is, Todoroki doesn't really get the effect he has sometimes. So he'll just come out and say something like this, almost like a passing comment, and doesn't realise that it'll render Midoriya useless. The whole time during Midoriya's freak-out, Todoroki just sits there, probably used to this by now.

And then, while Midoriya's trying to learn how to breathe again, Todoroki carefully peels Midoriya's hands from his face, places his own hand behind Midoriya's neck, and draws him in close.

The moment their lips touch, Midoriya relaxes. Todoroki has this effect on him, too. They learnt this a while ago, after a gruelling battle that left Midoriya panicking. They had been separated from everyone else, and the thought of anyone getting seriously injured, or worse, made him absolutely sick to his stomach. He paced, muttering to himself, trying to figure out something, anything, that would give them a clue as to where the others were. He couldn't think of anything, and it made everything worse. That was, until Todoroki kissed him. It calmed him down instantly, and left him in somewhat of a daze after. It also cleared his mind, and he was able to come up with a plan almost immediately. He asked Todoroki about it, after everyone was safe and sound; he wanted to know how he knew that would work. 'I didn't,' he replied, 'but your head was all muddled up, and, well, I thought it might help.'

It does. The way Todoroki's lips feel against his own, the heat of their mouths, the feeling of Todoroki's fingers tangled in his hair, all have a very soothing impact on Midoriya. It grounds him, in a sense; it keeps him afloat—so he doesn't sink, nor fly away. When they pull apart, Midoriya maintains the close proximity, pressing their foreheads together. His voice comes out barely above a whisper, but he knows Todoroki hears him, loud and clear.

"I'll always be here. Happy birthday, Shouto."

* * *

 **A/N:** (و ˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و

I hoped you guys liked this! I'm love them sm...

feel free to review, let me know what you thought, I couldn't thank you enough if you did.

(you can find me on tumblr at 'tobioshouto', have a great day~)


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